The Royal Accession Line
The line of succession to the British throne is the ordered sequence of all those people eligible to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. The Act of Settlement 1701 bestowed succession on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her descendants while excluding Roman Catholics. The British government does not publish an official list of all those in line to succeed, but the work of genealogical authors and amateur researchers suggests that there are several thousand people potentially in line. This article does not attempt to present an exhaustive list, but limits itself to the descendants of the sons of George V. At a summit in Perth, Western Australia in 2011, the heads of government of all the 16 Commonwealth realms agreed to take steps to end male preference primogeniture and the ban on the monarch's marriage to Roman Catholics, and to make other changes in the succession rules. A Brief History The succession to the throne is regulated not only through descent, but also by Parliamentary statute. The order of succession is the sequence of members of the Royal Family in the order in which they stand in line to the throne. The basis for the succession was determined in the constitutional developments of the seventeenth century, which culminated in the Bill of Rights (1689) and the Act of Settlement (1701). When James II fled the country in 1688, Parliament held that he had 'abdicated the government' and that the throne was vacant. The throne was then offered, not to James's young son, but to his daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange, as joint rulers. It therefore came to be established not only that the Sovereign rules through Parliament, but that the succession to the throne can be regulated by Parliament, and that a Sovereign can be deprived of his title through misgovernment. The succession to the throne is regulated not only through descent, but also by statute; the Act of Settlement confirmed that it was for Parliament to determine the title to the throne. The Act laid down that only Protestant descendants of Princess Sophia - the Electress of Hanover and granddaughter of James I - are eligible to succeed. Subsequent Acts have confirmed this. Parliament, under the Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, also laid down various conditions which the Sovereign must meet. A Roman Catholic is specifically excluded from succession to the throne; nor may the Sovereign marry a Roman Catholic. The Sovereign must, in addition, be in communion with the Church of England and must swear to preserve the established Church of England and the established Church of Scotland. The Sovereign must also promise to uphold the Protestant succession. The Current Line of Succession SOVEREIGN 1. The Prince of Wales 2. The Duke of Cambridge 3. Prince Henry of Wales 4. The Duke of York 5. Princess Beatrice of York 6. Princess Eugenie of York 7. The Earl of Wessex 8. Viscount Severn 9. The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor 10. The Princess Royal 11. Mr. Peter Phillips 12. Miss Savannah Phillips 13. Miss Isla Phillips 14. Mrs. Michael Tindall 15. Viscount Linley 16. The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones 17. The Hon. Margarita Armstrong-Jones 18. The Lady Sarah Chatto 19. Mr Samuel Chatto 20. Master Arthur Chatto 21. The Duke of Gloucester 22. Earl of Ulster 23. Lord Culloden 24. The Lady Cosima Windsor 25. The Lady Davina Lewis 26. Miss Senna Lewis 27. The Lady Rose Gilman 28. Miss Lyla Gilman 29. The Duke of Kent 30. The Lady Amelia Windsor 31. The Lady Helen Taylor 32. Mr Columbus Taylor 33. Master Cassius Taylor 34. Miss Eloise Taylor 35. Miss Estella Taylor 36. The Hon. Albert Windsor 37. The Hon. Leopold Windsor 38. The Lord Frederick Windsor 39. The Lady Gabriella Windsor 40. Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy References #http://www.royal.gov.uk/ThecurrentRoyalFamily/Successionandprecedence/Succession/Overview.aspx #http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_succession_to_the_British_throne